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By Julien Pretot
LONDON (Reuters) - France's Bryan Coquard took a halftime lead in the Olympic omnium thanks to a commanding win in the elimination race on Saturday.
Coquard was the last man standing among 18 riders, with the last one to cross the line every two laps being eliminated.
The Frenchman used his amazing jockeying and positioning abilities to win the third of the six disciplines held over two days, beating Italian Elia Viviani, who is second overall three points behind.
Britain's Ed Clancy, who had destroyed the opposition by clocking the fastest time in the 250-metre flying lap to take the early lead, dropped to fourth overall seven points behind Coquard.
Coquard had limited the damage in the second event, the points race, which is supposed to be his weak point.
Australian Glenn O'Shea was third overall.
The omnium is a test of all-round skills over two days in six disciplines: a flying lap, 30-km points race (20 km for women), elimination race, 4-km individual pursuit (3km), 15-km scratch race (10km) and one-kilometre (500m) time trial.
The last three events will be held on Sunday.
Points are added up depending on placing in each event and the rider with the lowest points score wins.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Tom Pilcher)
